I spun, but the monster opened its mouth and spat a blob of gelatin water. It struck my rifle, sending it out to the side, but I held on tight.
Another shot slammed my chest. I skidded on my ass and stared at the water in desperation. Arik had sunk to the bottom, but no longer thrashed. If I didn’t hurry, he’d be dead for sure.
“Five minutes, people. Hurry it up!” Sister sang without a care in the world.
“Bitch!” I spit.
The dolphin Zombeast across the way charged, its feet making a sticky wet slapping sound. I brought up my rifle, swinging. With a loud crack, I knocked the enemy senseless.
As it collapsed, I spun, looking for the other one. I spotted it as it dove into the water, swimming toward Arik. I aimed and fired. The bullet ripped through the gelatin and struck the zombeast. Red filled the section near my sunken friend.
I looked back, and the one I’d smacked stood and leaped for the water. I growled, trying to get a lock on, but it swam too fast. It rammed into Arik. His eye popped wide, and he careened into the center of the tank. The zombeast circled him so I couldn’t get a good shot.
Once again, I ran toward the pool. I dropped my rifle, diving and pulling myself toward my friend. I got close, but the zombeast struck and sent him away again. The monster came at me, and by mere inches, I dodged. I seized the creature around its neck.
Then the zombeast took me for a ride, but I squeezed tight. It tried to jerk me free, but I jabbed my fingers into its eyes. The dolphin thrashed and bled. It broke free and leaped out again.
A path to Arik! I spun around and swam through the thick water as fast as I could. He’d sank at an angle and ended up on the bottom, near the side. I reached him, grabbed the net cocoon and kicked my way to the surface. On the cement, he looked up at me with weakness in his eye. I pulled the gag out of his mouth and tried to untangle him.
He moaned. “Careful!”
“Sorry!”
“Three minutes.” Sister didn’t relent. “Three minutes until the guest star drops into the shark tank. Oops, did I spoil the surprise location?”
“That bitch!” I trembled.
“Guest star?” Arik’s voice came out weak.
“I don’t know who, but they said it was one of our friends.”
“Could it be him?” Arik’s jaw dropped. “Do you think it’s Charles?”
I shook my head. “No, Arik. He’s dead. I saw his body.”
“But it could be—”
“I’ve no clue who! But I’ll save them no matter what!”
The net came free, and Arik whimpered. I got him standing with his arm over my shoulder.
As we hobbled away, Sister came over the speakers again. “You’re taking too long. Now you only have about one minute remaining.”
LEVEL 37:
LAST CHANCES
Arik stumbled, but I held tight, helping him to continue walking. The clock ticked each painful second. With Arik’s injuries, we’d never make it to our third friend in time. But I couldn’t leave him behind, not with freakish zombeasts walking the grounds.
Arik limped on his shattered leg. “Soldier’s ambushed us at the apartment building across the street. Dyonna tried to take them on, but one had a gun to my head, and she had to surrender. I’m useless; you should’ve left me for dead.”
“Don’t say such things!” I strove to keep him walking. “Dragoon should’ve saved Dyonna by now, I hope she’s saving the other person.”
Arik moaned. “This has got to end.”
“Trust me. With each step, we get closer to the final round, but we need to hurry.”
He stumbled, and I tripped over his leg. We both collapsed, and Arik landed on his broken wrist, screeching. “Just go without me! There isn’t time.”
“A zombeast butterfly might kill you at this point!”
“If you don’t go someone else will die! It’s why you left me behind in Los Angeles. You left then; you gotta do the same now!”
I closed my eyes and wanted to cry, feeling overwhelmed and helpless. Pain ached in my chest, but he spoke the truth.
I lowered Arik to the ground next to a storage tent in the long hallway. “Crawl somewhere, hide and stay quiet.”
“That’s something I can do.” He crawled toward the tent. “I’ll survive somehow. It’s what I do.”
I forced a smile and turned away. With the entirety of my speed, I sprinted away.
“Thirty seconds!” Sister sang her maniacal jingle. “Twenty-nine, twenty-eight...”
Rifle in hand, I pumped my legs. My pulse pounded, my heart thundered, and my mind raced trying to figure out whom they still had as a hostage. As much as I wanted it to be Charles, I’d seen his body; bloodless.
“Fifteen, fourteen...”
“No you don’t!” I raced into a courtyard and leaped over a food cart. Nothing to stand in my way.
“Ten.”
“I’m coming!”
“Nine.”
Up ahead I found a sign. It had a cartoon shark with a top hat.
“Eight.”
“I’ll kill her!” My legs ached, my bare feet hurt, and my lungs burned.
“Seven.”
“Dammit!”
“Six.”
I leaned further into my run.
“Five.”
Ahead, a figure appeared. It was akin to the dolphin zombeasts, but with a hammerhead shark.
“Four.”
Hatred fueled me. It didn’t even see me coming. I fired my rifle point blank and took out the undead mutant. I leaped over its flopping body.
“Three.”
I ran through the archway of the shark encounter. A monstrous, rotting, great white shark swam around in the tank. It opened its mouth so wide it’d swallow a busload of children.
“Two.”
A black body bag hung above the tank, and something thrashed inside it. Next to the tank I spotted a staircase. I took them three at a time.
“One... bye bye!”
The body bag fell, and I dove through the air, tackling it. We slammed onto the catwalk over the tank. The person inside cried out in muffled screams. As I attempted to stand, my foot slipped, and hit the water. I yanked my leg out, grabbed the bag and dodged. The screeching and twisting of steel echoed through the encounter as the mega-white shark took the catwalk with it. I bounced the stairs with the bag, rolling several more feet before coming to a stop.
They continued to flail and scream while I struggled for the zipper. I grabbed hold and jerked it open. My eyes filled to the brim with tears. A young girl with black hair stared at me with eyes of pure joy. I grabbed the gag out and pulled Kiki in close for the tightest hug ever. “How are you alive?” I sobbed hard.
Kiki shared in my tears. “After the crossbow bolt hit my chest, I woke up in a laboratory, tied to a table with scientists all over the place.”
“But you were dead! The wound; I saw it!”
“I don’t know how I survived. They experimented on me and took my blood, over and over, and it hurt. They even infected me with the Omega Virus.”
“What?” I grabbed her arms, looking for bites
“I’m immune, like Charles! They said they would drain me dry, but then a scientist named Mikey told me he would change my chart data, that he’d already seen what they do to the immune.”
I pictured Mikey, the scientist who’d healed me, and fell to an unfortunate fate. How I wished he’d survived.
“If you’re immune, there’s still a chance for a real vaccine.” I wiped the tears from my eyes.
“No more experiments!” She shook her head and whimpered.
“You little bitch!” Sister’s voice crackled. “How dare you save the guest star! There’s a silver lining. Now we know she’s immune, we’ll take her and do to her what we did to your other friend, Charles!”
Kiki looked me in the eyes. “What did they do to Charles?”
I stood, helping my friend to her feet. “Mikey saved you from that fate.”
Kiki gasped as I held her hand tight.
“You’re heartless freaks!” I slashed my hand before me. “She’s a little girl!”
“We’re heartless?” Sister scoffed. “You left the girl poisoned! We saved her!”
“Poisoned? For curing Kiki, I promise I won’t make you suffer. I’m just going to blow your head off in one shot! Do me a favor. Line up and I’ll kill you both at once. I’d like to save the bullets.”
“Our game isn’t over yet!”
“What now? Level two?”
“No, a bonus round, that we’re sure you’ll love!”
At the edges of the encounter, steel walls shot out of the ground. I spun in a circle to find they surrounded us, blocking any escape. “What now?”
From not far above us, four pipes pumped waterfalls into our tank. As the water rose, it passed our bare feet.
Kiki tugged on my arm. “She’ll release the shark! Do something!”
I cursed and studied the thirty-foot long zombeast swimming in its tank.
“We’ll find a way out.” I tried faking big sister confidence.
I wanted to believe it. Only the sets of stairs leading up to the broken catwalk might afford us time. As soon as it got high enough, we’d be shark food either way.
“Stay here.” I approached the catwalk.
“What are you doing?” Kiki tried to follow.
I turned. “Stay back. I don’t know yet.”
Rifle ready, I reached the top of the stairs. I’d have to kill it before it could kill us.
I stood a safe distance back and aimed into the pool. The shark made its rounds in a timed manner. If I waited patient enough, I’d get a perfect shot.
Mega-white zombeast came around, and I aimed through my scope. It circled right into view, and I pulled the trigger. The bullet ripped into the water, sending a geyser spraying. Dark blood came out of the fish, but it continued to swim around, even though I’d fired right into what I thought was its brain. I fired again, but the gun clicked.
“Dammit!” I’d forgotten to count my ammo.
I scanned the encounter, looking for an escape. But the walls were tall and made of sheer steel. Soon, we’d swim with the shark.
“Did you find anything?” Kiki called.
I chewed my bottom lip, trying my hardest to find the answer. We were in their game; There was a way to win! I looked around again. The pipes still poured water and had reached Kiki’s knees. The shark looked hungrier every second, its eyes watched us as it passed on each turn.
I looked at the pipes again. “That’s it!”
They were low enough that if Kiki stood on me, she could reach them. I jumped off the steps and splashed into the frigid water.
“Kiki, come here!”
She rushed to my side. “What? Did you think of something?”
“I need you to get on my shoulders!” I kneeled in the water.
“And do what?”
“You need to climb that pipe and turn off the water, fast!”
“How the hell do I do that?” The small girl climbed onto my back.
I stood, and she found her balance. “You’ll figure it out, I promise! Can you reach?”
“Almost!”
The icy water came to my knees. I stood on my tiptoes, giving Kiki as much height as possible.
“Got it!” Kiki’s weight lifted.
I walked backward and watched her climb the pipe with her arms and legs around it. She climbed to the part where the pipe went horizontal, and stood up, shaking.
I held my breath as she balanced her way across the pipe, one arm out to each side. “You can do it, Kiki!”
A loud crack had me spinning on my heel. The great Zombeast had slammed into the glass of its tank. Even though the water hadn’t reached high enough, with the tank’s contents, it might reach me. It slammed again, and cracks shot out in every direction.
“Please, hurry!” I watched the tank, fear spreading to the tips of my toes.
Another slam; this time the glass shattered, and the water poured out, raising its level to my naval. I backed up as the monster thrashed and came closer. It couldn’t swim yet, but it still lunged, pulling itself forward with each snap of its giant jaws.
“Oh, hell no!” I jumped back as it snapped and tried swallowing me.
“I’m hurrying, but I can’t find an off switch!”
The shark leaped at me, and I vaulted to the side, falling under the surface. A loud hollow ding rang out as the shark dented the steel wall. I scrambled back to my feet, and sloshed through the water, getting far away. With each chomp, it pulled itself several feet.
“Come on, that’s cheating!”
The water reached my chest as I made my way to the stairs. At the top, I leaned into the wrecked catwalk just as the Zombeast lunged and tore away the stairs.
“Forget the pipes! Get the walls down or something! Anything!”
If the walls dropped, we’d be able to escape the chomping undead shark.
I backed away as far as I could. The water had gotten high enough for the shark to swim. It leaped out of the water and landed on the catwalk which tilted to a sharp angle. My hands snapped out and grabbed the railing to prevent myself from sliding into the jaws of death.
I held on for dear life, grasping with both hands. “Kiki, please!”
“Tiffany, I found the wall grid. I have to solve it. There are all these red, blue and yellow flashing lights.”
“Align them! Three of a kind! Choco Crush them! Just come on, already!”
I tried to pull myself onto the railing, but the shark slammed the catwalk hard. My grip failed with one hand. I dangled above the death trap, swinging, only a few feet from the shark’s rows of teeth.
“I got one! It’s like a game of Simon!” Kiki’s words refilled my hope bar.
“I hate Simon!” I reached with my other hand and got my arm over the railing, getting a foot higher. The zombeast launched itself to where I’d been, and my heart exploded.
I sought to get higher, but sharky flung its body into the tilted catwalk again, and the platform swayed left and right. The steel bent and groaned from my weight. I lowered towards the water.
With a loud snap, the railing broke in half and I plummeted towards the shark pool. I splashed in, and the catwalk fell in front of me, pinning me against the wall. The great white undead came swimming towards me. I struggled to get away, but the steel pinned my arm in place. I couldn’t get free. My breath escaped my lungs as I screamed under the water. The shark came in for the kill, gigantic jaws opened wide.
LEVEL 38:
TWISTING METAL
The great white zombeast came as I attempted to pull my arm free, but even if I did, there’d be no time to escape. I pressed my back against the wall, trying to shrink. The shark might not get its jaws around me. Eyes closed tight, I wished for a quick and painless end.
The shark crashed against the steel, but death didn’t come; not even pain.
The arena water lowered below my eye level and continued to drain. I dared a peek. The shark wriggled its body, trying to swim forward. It lunged, seeking to snap me up, but the water flooded out of the tank, and the shark got sucked a dozen yards away.
I took a deep breath and sighed. Beyond the tank, I no longer saw the steel walls. Kiki had done it; she’d mastered the pattern game. The water may have drained, but I wasn’t free.
Relief flooded through me. “Thank you, Kiki!”
The scared looking girl peeked her head around the side of the shark tank and spotted me. She ran across the wet ground, splashing water up as she came, keeping far from the shark. “Thank gosh you’re all right!”
I struggled to slide free. “A little help? I need to go take care of Brother and Sister!”
“I don’t know how to get you free.” She tugged on the steel. “I’m not strong enough to pull the catwalk away!”
“Listen.” We locked eyes. “I need you to find Dragoon.”
She tilted her head
. “Who?”
“A friend.” I nodded. “She’s a one-armed android. I hope she’s with Dyonna.”
Kiki arched a single brow. “Did you say... android?”
“I know it sounds kinda crazy—”
“Batshit.”
“The point is she’s strong. Find her!”
A long groan came over the speakers, followed by Sister’s annoying voice, “Oh poo, you won the bonus challenge?”
“Just you wait until I get to the final round of this game!” I thrashed. “I’m gonna stick my foot so far up your—”
Sister snickered. “Nasty brat. Don’t worry; you’ll be free soon, and we’ll be waiting. I’ll even tell you where to find us.”
“Aren’t you so sure of yourselves?”
“That cat’s out of the bag. The cards are on the table. The dice rolled.” Sister giggled. “You’re walking into your funeral. We have the gamma spheres, made from your friend’s blood! A single sphere is enough to handle you!”
Moonlight Sonata returned to playing.
Kiki glanced around, eyes wide. “I’ll go try to find this Dragoon… thing.”
“Dragoon’s a female. But I’ll explain later. She a black bob cut and remember, one arm!”
Kiki turned around and then spun back. “Found her!”
“Tiffany, are you all right?” Arik’s voice came from nearby.
Dragoon appeared around the edge of the broken shark tank. She had her arm around Arik, helping him walk.
Beside her came Dyonna, brows creased, looking to kill. “I’m tired of this game! What the hell you doing, playing?”
“You call this playing?” I nodded towards the flopping shark. “I’m trapped, and that almost killed me!”
Arik, Dragoon, and Dyonna looked over, and Arik shrieked. I rolled my eyes and then sighed.
At once Arik and Dyonna noticed Kiki standing to the side; their faces turned pale as if they’d seen a ghost.
“No way, girlo!” Dyonna gasped. “Is this real, or did we all die?”
“Kiki!” Arik exhaled. “We saw you die!”
The small girl shook her head. “The bolt was poison; it didn’t kill me. They picked me up to use me as an experiment. I’m immune to the virus.”
“Y-You’re immune? Just like Charles… So, you were the guest star...” Arik lowered his head, smiling, but likely on the verge of tears.
Omega Virus (Book 2): Gamma Hour Page 25